INSIDE EDITION EXCLUSIVE:

TWO WOMEN INVOLVED IN SWEEPING SEXUAL ASSAULT LAWSUIT AGAINST LIBERTY UNIVERSITY SPEAK OUT ON TELEVISION FOR THE FIRST TIME

 

 

AIRING ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12^th

Check local listings at www.insideedition.com

  

VIDEO LINK (MUST CREDIT INSIDE EDITION AND LINK BACK):

https://ietv.co/31MMAks

  

New York, NY – November 12, 2021 – In an exclusive airing on Friday, INSIDE EDITION’s Chief Investigative Correspondent Lisa Guerrero sits down with Chelsea Andrews and Heather Wendel, two former students who are involved in a sweeping lawsuit against Liberty University, which alleges the university repeatedly mishandled allegations of sexual assault and even punished women who tried to report them.

 

Andrews and Wendel have been assigned Jane Doe numbers 7 and 13, respectively, in connection with the on-going case of Jane Does versus Liberty University. Until now, the two women had never met.

 

“When I was at Liberty University, I was sexually assaulted,” Wendel tells INSIDE EDITION.

 

Speaking about her own experience, Andrews says, “I remember trying as much as I could to make him stop.”

 

“So many people discouraged me from reporting,” adds Wendel.

 

Wendel filed a police report naming her attackers, but she says Liberty University officials didn’t believe her.

 

“They were prayed for,” says Wendel. “My assailants were prayed for and let go back into society.”

 

Andrews says her alleged assailant was a medical student she barely knew, but she was afraid to report it because she had a single glass of wine at an off-campus house, a violation of the school’s strict honor code.

 

“I thought, ‘I’m going to get in trouble.’ If I reported it, I was going to get punished,” Andrews tells INSIDE EDITION.

 

Liberty University is one of the largest Christian universities in the world. Andrews says she was afraid of violating what’s called the “Liberty Way,” the school’s ultra-strict honor code that every student is required to sign. It calls for disciplining and fining students who engage in drinking or pre-marital sex.

 

“The punishment for drinking was the equivalent of the punishment of raping somebody,” says Wendel. “So consuming alcohol in their minds is the equivalent to destroying someone’s life.”

 

Earlier this month, the school’s president, Jerry Prevo, addressed the allegations.

 

“We want you to feel safe, we don’t want any sexual assault or harassment or sexual abuse, and I’ve told the department that deals with that. I said you take every complaint seriously and you deal with it seriously.”

 

Wendel now proudly wears her Jane Doe number 13 tattooed in roman numerals on her forearm as a constant reminder of how far she says she’s come.

 

“For many years they’ve been sweeping things under the rug,” Wendel tells INSIDE EDITION. “Now we’re lifting that rug up and seeing how much dirt and disgusting that is underneath it.”

 

In a statement to INSIDE EDITION, Liberty University says they “prefer not to” comment on litigation but “the university would like to affirm its commitment to take all allegations of sexual assault seriously and in accordance with the law.”

 

For INSIDE EDITION’s full report, tune in on Friday, November 12^th. Check local listings for times and stations in your area.  

 

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